Crime Watch — the new initiative of Indore police to contain crime through active participation of the people via telephones and social media is paying rich dividends, senior police officials said here on Saturday.
DIG Santosh Kumar Singh said that a dedicated team is going through all the calls and posts that come on Crime Watch, and if it is a case of a ‘real-time’ incident police try and reach the spot within a few minutes.
DIG Singh said that in last four days after its launch, Indore police have received over 106 complaints and information about criminal activities and some cases were also lodged in various police stations of the city based on those posts.
“If you are witnessing anything illegal anywhere in the city just call 7049124445 or send a WhatsApp message to 7049124444. The dedicated police branch directly receive your tip-off and the action begins within a few minutes,” said ASP crime branch Vinay Prakash Paul.
You can also send a message to Facebook page and Twitter account of Crime Watch. Now, people don’t have to worry about police station limits as they can directly contact police. The complainants will be informed about the action taken on the complaint within an hour.
The identity of informer will be kept secret by Indore police. But if the information given is fake or to misguide police, action will be taken against the fake caller.
This is new method to build human intelligence in city. “The idea is to involve people of the city to check crime as people have plethora of information,” said the ASP.
The crime watch is working under Indore crime branch in cooperation with police stations of the district.
“We have received some complaint from Rewa, Dhar, Badwani and other districts about the illegal activities going on in their locality. We have registered their addresses and called the concerned police station of other districts to look into the matter,” added ASP crime branch Indore.
The ASP further said that police have received complaints from every part of the city and most of them deal with illegal sale of liquor.
As per the records 20% complaints were of illegal sale of liquor , 10% of traffic related issues, 15% about hooliganism and 15% were of betting and illegal activities.
“We have received complaint from the outskirts of the city including Khudial, Hatod, Kishanganj and in most of them action was taken,” said Paul.
How crime watch is different?
Senior officials say crime branch keeps a track of the information given and each day a senior police officer overviews the action taken on the complaint or the information provided.
A person gave information about the human trafficking going on in Rajendra Nagar area to crime watch. A team was formed and two persons were arrested with two minor girls. A case was registered with Rajendra Nagar police station area.
A woman called crime watch about the hooliganism going on in her area. A team reached the spot within a minute. When the woman saw the team she called crime watch and said that she was checking the response of the new initiative.
A total of 250 calls regarding complaints and information were received by Indore police in the last two days.
Lots of people have called and thanked the crime branch and crime watch team for their prompt and effective response.
